Drowsy big rig driver plows through KFC

A drowsy big rig driver may have taken a KFC "drive thru" sign too literally. The truck barreled through the fast-food restaurant around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, after the driver fell asleep at the wheel, authorities said. The restaurant was closed at the time, and no one was seriously injured.

The produce-carrying big rig was going east on Highway 46, when it veered off the road, jumped the curb, knocked over a metal pole, plowed through the KFC, missed a house by several feet, demolished a shed and crashed through a brick wall before coming to a stop in the backyard of another house.

"We feel very, very fortunate that no one was hurt," said Bill Frederick, who rushed home to console his wife and assess the damage to his backyard after the crash. "If it wasn't for the reinforcement and the rebar and the neighbor's chain link fence, it would have been in the house with us."

Gonzalo Varela, the manager of the KFC, said the business would try to transfer the restaurant's 11 employees to other area KFCs, while the Wasco location was rebuilt.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation, and no arrests were made.

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Information from: The Bakersfield Californian, http://www.bakersfield.com